For follow-up discussion and general commentary on the topic. Comments are sorted chronologically.
Grant Abbott
In addition to knowing what the spiritual gifts, I believe it is important to get a perspective on; 1) why the gifts were given, 2) how the spirit uses the gifts to benefit the local church, and 3) what we can learn from personal experience.
I was greatly helped in my own understanding of spiritual gifts by a 1970’s book written by Peter C Wagner. In it, he organizes the gifts in four ways; 1) Role, 2) Gift, 3) Ministry, and 4) Office. Each gift has a corresponding role, ministry and office. If we want to know what all the gifts are then we need to start with the lists provided in scripture as already referenced, then add to and define all the other roles that Jesus performed when he ministered to people. Jesus commanded us to learn and obey everything he had commanded and carry on the ministry he established through the local church.
As individual Christians we are responsible to fulfill each one of these roles, when the opportunity presents itself, using the natural abilities God has given. We fulfill these roles in order to obey Jesus command to Love One Another. However, this love is first stirred in our hearts by the Holy Spirit and then we are given opportunities to pray, speak and act to express this love to our brothers and sisters in the body of Christ.
As we demonstrate our faithfulness in carrying out these roles, the Holy Spirit begins to release the spiritual gifts were we given on the day we were saved. We will be able to identify these gifts by the impact they have on ourselves and those we serve. For ourselves, I believe we will discover that; 1) our service feels effortless, 2) we have an abiding love and concern for the needs of others, and 3) we experience a joy that is deeply satisfying. For other believers whom we care for; 1) they often feel incredibly blessed, 2) they encounter God’s presence through us, 3) they are filled with the Holy Spirit, 4) their faith grows and 5) they want to please God with their own service.
As we discover our gifts and begin to faithfully use them, the Holy Spirit then increases the occasions for using our gifts and establishes our ministries. If our eyes are open to the opportunities, I believe we will have occasions to use our gifts on a daily basis. This level of ministry has a profound effect in building up the body of Christ to maturity and completeness.
Once our ministry is established and we are faithfully taking advantage of the opportunities the Spirit gives us, then he will establish us in an office to teach and train others. It is incredibly important to have a training center in the local church for each gift so every member of the local church can work through this process of practicing their roles, finding their gifts, using their ministries and training others.
It took me several years to discover my spiritual gifts of leadership, teaching, administration, intercessory prayer and prophecy. In the past 10 years I have ministered primarily using a combination of leadership, teaching and administration. Lately, the Spirit is leading me into greater occasions to use a combination of teaching, intercessory prayer and prophecy.
Prophecy is an often misunderstood gift. From my personal experience and understanding of scripture, I believe it is simply proclaiming the word of God from the bible that encourages, strengthens, teaches, rebukes, corrects and trains in righteousness, in a context that is specific to the unique needs of an individual or the corporate body of the local church. Following is an example of using this gift in a specific context.
Recently our church offered the Alpha course but decided to charge a fee to cover the meal cost. I saw the advert and immediately the Spirit told me this was wrong as scripture is clear that we cannot charge people to hear the gospel. I raised this issue with church leadership and they dropped the fee. Before this change, few people had registered for the course, but afterward the room was packed to capacity.